Fall Creek Timber Project Occupied by Forest Activists

author: Cass K. Dia e-mail:e-mail: ForestDefenseNow@gmail.com
Do you remember the days of Fall Creek, Warner Creek, the first Cascadia Summers? Do you remember the lands that were saved by the direct efforts of concerned citizens? We remember, and it is within that greater tradition of non-violent forest defense that we now come to you proclaiming that a resurgence has begun. As of June 1, 2009 tree-sits have been deployed within the Fall Creek Project planning area in defiance of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) propositions to clearcut 400 acres in the area.

Cascadia Summer 2009

As of June 1, 2009 tree-sits have been deployed within the Fall Creek Project planning area in defiance of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) propositions to clearcut 400 acres in the area. This action is taken as an escalation of the Cascadia Summer campaign against the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR) and corruption within the highest levels of the BLM. Perhaps the BLM will listen to these events, as they did not listen to the more than 30,000 Oregonians who filed formal protest against the WOPR. These are public lands and we will not sit back and watch the continuing devastation caused by government incompetence and corporate manipulation. As far as the economy is considered, do not be deceived, you will find no jobs on a dead planet.

The WOPR, a Bush-era plan, will increase BLM logging by 436% in a time when timber prices have bottomed out. 70% of these new cuts would be clearcuts and 100,000 acres of old growth would be cut. Approximately 40,000 rural Oregonians live within one half-mile of BLM land and the security of their homes, drinking water, and local economies is under assault by this illegal plan. Boom and bust timber economics have failed and it is time for affected communities and environmentalists to move forward together toward a timber industry that can meet our mutual needs indefinitely.

Accusations of corruption are well grounded in fact, with the Oregon BLM having been found guilty of breaking federal law by 9th Circuit federal courts in at least six separate cases involving timber sales in southern Oregon since 2004. Continuing with this trend the WOPR is being challenged in court as it violates the Endangered Species Act, the Oregon Clean Water Act and the Oregon Salmon Plan as well as contradicting greenhouse gas reduction targets that the Governor and legislators signed into Oregon law in 2007. The BLM and their big business collaborators have hijacked the forest management process. These are our forests by law and we won't let them be stolen without a fight.

Activists from all over the country will be coming to Oregon this summer to join us in this Cascadia Summer, our season of resistance. We have numbers, we are organized and we are bringing forest defense to a BLM project near you. Our immediate message to the BLM is stop the WOPR and cancel the Fall Creek Project. We must also make clear that these are symptoms of a greater problem and if mismanagement of public lands remains the status quo, we shall continue to agitate. We invite folks out to visit the sits, or just to come to Eugene and partake in a Cascadian forest defense movement that breathes once again.

Contact ForestDefenseNow@gmail.com with questions or comments.

homepage: homepage: http://ForestDefenseNow.org